Name: Wen Laoying
Title: Wen Sifu (master/teacher, term of respect akin to sensei), The Drunken Demon (in his youth)
Race: Hume
Job: Martial artist
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Warrior of Light: No

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Physical Features:

Though he stands at a fairly respectable 6 feet tall, one could be forgiven for underestimating Wen Laoying given his rather portly appearance. His body wrapped in traditional Taisong clothes, he just undeniably looks rather fat, no two ways about it. If not for that, then his amicable, relaxed posture and expression combined with his glasses and funny moustache make for more of a friendly uncle type rather than an intimidating or dangerous man on a first glance. And Wen Sifu admits he has let himself go a little bit of late, having come to weigh more than 250 pounds, but there’s definitely more to him than meets the eye.

Simply a naturally rounded man, Wen possesses a powerful core of highly trained and developed muscle underneath a layer of fat that actually serves a purpose as natural padding against blows. Laoying sports the telltale signs of a dedicated fighter, as well. One may find a myriad of scars on him from head to toe and his skin is rough and leathery from conditioning and battle, much of his arms and legs are actually calloused into rock hard striking surfaces. His hands in particular sport bulging knuckles that look as though someone inserted pebbles into them and his fingers are as thick but dextrous talons.

Clothing/Armor/Weapons:

After a lifetime of training and fighting without them, Wen Laoying has no need for weapons or armor. His body has been developed for the right mixture of strength, speed, toughness, stamina and flexibility needed to best perform in combat, traits he has managed to retain even as he ages and gains in weight, and his martial arts expertise makes excellent use of his physical attributes. Clothing-wise he dresses in simple Taisong fashion, wearing a grey jacket that he typically carries open exposing a white undershirt, along with undecorated black pants and simple black cloth slip-on shoes. His glasses are nearly everpresent although of course he tends to take them off for a fight.

Wen Sifu primarily practices the fairly well known Drunken Fist, but strays from common myth around it. While many believe a practitioner must constantly imitate the uncoordinated motions of a drunkard or actually be intoxicated, Laoying’s Drunken Fist is built upon a foundation of technically sound skills and a near encyclopedic, obsessive knowledge of combat. Misdirection and unpredictability are key to his style, yes, but tempered by a strong concern for effective defense and proper power generation through momentum and transfer of his considerable body weight. A dangerous and frustrating opponent, he is as likely to attack in a textbook manner as he is to break every rule of thumb to land a telling blow in a calculated risk.

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Personality Traits:

Honest to a fault | Seemingly always in good spirits | Loyal | Unyielding | Confident to the point of arrogance | Sarcastic sense of humor | Can be quite lazy | Adventurous | Cold-blooded where necessary | Self-reliant | Nurturing (in a tough love kind of way) | Meritocratic | Critical | Polite |

Likes:

Combat | Strength | Excitement | Competence | Luxuries | Growth

Dislikes:

Cowardice | Weakness | Boredom | Magic | Overblown spiritualism | Stagnation

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Hometown:

Nanchuu Islands (also referred to as the Nanchuu Kingdom), Kimura. A chain of islands to the southwest of the Kimuran mainland, they were once an important trade hub between Kimura and the now sunken nation of Taisong, a vast and storied culture that had made the islands into a tributary state in ages past. Kimuran lords, however, understood Nanchuu’s importance and conquered the land a few generations before the great flood. It did not come easy. The Kingdom possessed a particularly hard-nosed population with a strong martial culture, born from having to fend off pirates and all manner of undesirables for ages, and fought bitterly until a near stalemate was declared and they were guaranteed a high degree of independence.

Seeking to weaken the Kingdom in hopes of eventually bringing it to heel, the mainland laid down a restrictive decree as part of the peace negotiations: Nanchuu was not allowed to stockpile arms or armor. While the idea was to curtail rebellion and make the islands’ authorities reliant on forces from the mainland, the prohibition did not stop the development of combat skills in Nanchuu. Rather, it only managed to incense the warriors of the land and many travelled to Taisong to train and pioneered new schools of combat upon their return, often under the backing of the court. A number of methods based around the use of improvised weapons, chief among them staves, and a strong focus on body strengthening became the norm.

Nowadays the Kingdom remains ostensibly a vassal state of the mainland, but it is entirely a matter of status quo and their degree of independence makes them effectively a nation of their own. After the great disaster the islands took in a massive amount of Taisong survivors, making them the last bastion of a civilization that once rivaled that of Kimura itself, along with a variety of smaller diasporas from lands further east that could not be saved. The islands' culture is a strange mix, with Kimuran orthodoxy replaced in many areas by now firmly established enclaves and much intermixing between them all, and the state is now a parliamentary monarchy with representatives from all major groups within the Kingdom. Relationships with Kimura are cordial and mutually beneficial if somewhat tense.

While the old decree was abolished, Nanchuu now possesses its own standing army, its influence cannot be understated. Many a scholar believes that many a monastic combat tradition in Kimura actually come from Taisong by way of Nanchuu, while many other curious practices were developed within the islands themselves. The Kingdom is a hotbed for martial pursuits to this day, which has led to the creation of a most peculiar organization: The Institute for Martial Studies. An academy dedicated to the spread and preservation of martial arts, backed by a cadet branch of the Kingdom’s royal family, it is also concerned with keeping the rough and tumble the fighting culture of the land under control on some level.

Current Residence:

Nanchuu Islands, often struck by wanderlust.

Occupation:

Martial arts instructor, examiner for the Institute of Martial Studies, vagabond, sometimes masseuse and bonesetter to make money on the road. Not a real doctor, but he can relieve muscular or skeletal pains and similar ailments through massage and manipulation of joints and is also capable of restoring fractured or dislocated bones to their correct alignment.

Backstory:
Though he was born into a simple family of farmers from Taisong in Nanchuu, Wen Laoying had one distinct advantage when it came to rising out of his humble station. The Wen family had, for ages, passed down a style of martial arts created in their ancestral homeland for self defense and health. It was a simple but practical school of fighting and Laoying took to it with a most impressive mixture of talent and dedication, becoming engrossed in the world of martial arts. Even in his unimportant settlement and the surrounding villages there were masters and other students to learn from, and Kingdom’s culture meant there was no shortage of opportunities to test the validity of his skills as he grew.

Of course not all was well. A man of his physical gifts and the ability to match in an environment where fighting is glorified is bound to stray from a righteous path. Wen Laoying soon earned a reputation for being a ruffian, strong-arming others to his will and using his strength to bask in vices and gain position amongst others of ill repute. It was then that he developed a penchant for drinking and his title of the Drunken Demon, but it should at least be acknowledged that he never faltered in his martial studies and continued to pursue his path with great devotion. Soon, however, his misdeeds caught up to him, and a true master from the Institute of Martial Studies was dispatched to pacify him.

The man, Lau Sifu, was much stronger than Wen and bested him convincingly. He was also a good man who was quite impressed with the portly man’s skills at his relatively young age. Rather than arrest him or take away his ability to practice the martial arts, he took Laoying back with him to the Institute and made him his apprentice. Now in a more positive environment in which to temper his fighting urges, Wen began a process of growth and reform that ended with him becoming a Sifu of his own. As a cheeky nod to his old nickname and his own drunken antics, and in no small part interested in the complexity and difficulty of the style, he trained heavily in Drunken Fist until it became his style of choice.

Nowadays, Wen Laoying is an examiner for the Institute, tasked with testing the mettle of those who seek to enter the organization and those who call themselves masters or otherwise promote themselves on the basis of skills they might not have. He is not necessarily well liked or respected given his past and less than rigidly traditional stylings, but he is at a good place in life. His job even allows him to take off and travel the world on his own on occasion, always seeking new interesting developments in the martial arts or an adventure where he might test himself.

Other:

Despite his skills, he is not some kind of invincible perfect athlete. He won’t beat a minotaur or similar creatures in pure weightlifting or sheer strength competitions, he won’t outrun athletes of similar caliber who train specifically to sprint or be more flexible than a cat burglar or gymnast. His body is built specifically for the purpose of fighting and that’s what he excels at, though he does have the cardio to engage in marathon-like pursuits.